A picture is worth a thousand words, but this photo just says, “Uh-oh.”

It seems that, on August 29, 2005, John McCain and President George W. Bush celebrated McCain’s 69th birthday with a cake photo-op shortly after the President landed at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix. Meanwhile, that same morning, the worst of Hurricane Katrina was hitting New Orleans - four days after the devastating storm first hit the Gulf Coast.

The kicker is that the TV spot about all this is called, of course, “Let them eat cake.”

The Huffington Post has more details about the situation. During an April trip to New Orleans:

John McCain toured still hurricane-damaged areas of New Orleans and declared that if the disaster had happened on his watch, he would have immediately landed his plane at the nearest Air Force base…

…McCain was unsparing in his criticism of the Bush administration. He said Congress must share some of the blame, too.

Drawing a sharp contrast to President Bush, McCain said he would have landed his plane “at the nearest Air Force Base and come over personally.”

Well, McCain wasn’t the president in 2005, but what was stopping him from going to the Gulf Coast personally? He was already at an Air Force Base, after all. It’s a nice thing for him to say, but it just doesn’t jive with what he did (smile with the President and a birthday cake) and didn’t do (anything to spur government aid for Katrina victims).

On the same New Orleans trip, according to Newsweek:

Arriving Thursday morning, McCain was asked how he planned to distinguish himself from Bush’s handling of Katrina. “Just like I do everything,” he said. “They have to judge me on my record.”

The DNC addressed McCain’s Katrina record in a release issued April 24:

The fact is, McCain has a history of denying the Gulf Coast aid when it needs it most and a record of outrageous votes to show for it. Instead of helping the area rebuild after Hurricane Katrina and the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast get back on their feet, McCain actually voted to deny emergency funding to the area, and he voted against giving victims of Katrina access to Medicaid and unemployment benefits.

…

McCain voted against passage of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations of 2006. It would provide more than $28 billion for hurricane relief, approximately $2.3 billion for pandemic flu preparations and $1.9 billion for border security efforts. [2006 Senate Vote #112, 5/4/2006]

The release goes on to detail other votes McCain cast against various types of relief for Katrina survivors and establishing a commission to study the response to Katrina.

I’m unsure why I’ve heard more about Barack Obama’s missteps (”bittergate,” Rev. Jeremiah Wright) and Hillary Clinton’s Bosnia gaffe more than I’ve heard about McCain’s Katrina record and complete lack of action on the day the New Orleans levees broke. Clearly these mini-scandals are much more entertaining to hear about than actual issues that affect the country.